LAX to Panama City

Hola de Panama!   

Our direct flight from LAX to Panama City was pleasant and uneventful. I grabbed an iced coffee and packed breakfast for the plane.

But, I ended up eating it in the bookstore while perusing the periodicals…

I didn’t realize (or plan it), but we had the Emergency Exit row to ourselves! I’ve never had this row and was pretty jazzed about it! It’s the little things 🙂 We flew COPA air and received a croissant sandwich for breakfast. It had roast beef so I passed it to Ben and ate the carrot muffin.

Plus we got a hot meal for lunch! I can’t remember the last time I got something for free on an airplane so I was pretty excited. Ben got the beef meal and I asked about a vegetarian option, but they were out.

So, they brought me a kosher meal which ended up being the healthiest choice. It was roasted chicken, potatoes and veggies.

Plus, it came with a knish, eggplant salad and a pastry. Pretty good deal!

I didn’t know they were going to provide meals so I packed lunch. It was a sandwich, chips, apple and a bag of romaine for when the inevitable snack monster hit.

I ate it like chips and asked Ben to take a picture of me. Although, I have to admit this portrays a skewed picture of me as I’m eating more fun and less healthy this trip. At least I started with good intentions, I’ll have to start this trick up again when I get home.

We got to our hotel around 6pm and threw our stuff down in search of dinner.

The receptionist said it was safe to walk around after dark so we went on foot. 

We ended up at Costa Azul a restaurant with outdoor dining. It was so nice to be outside after being stuck in a metal tube with recycled air for 5 hours!

I got a tuna salad and asked for a side of tartar sauce when I realized it was “straight up tuna from a can”.

Ben got fried Gorvina, his meal was delicious.

And we shared Tres Leches cake 🙂

This morning we got up and hit the hotel gym. I warmed up for 15 minutes on the treadmill, but it was all I could take. I can’t believe this used to be the only way I’d run?!

Then, Ben and I did some weights and called it a workout.

I spotted a Dunkin Donuts on the way to the hotel last night so that was on the menu for breakfast.   Ben got a sandwich…

And I ate one of the sandwiches we packed from home (we kept it in the fridge overnight).    

Then we headed to the Panama Canal

We got there just in time to watch a ship pass through.

It was super crowded on the viewing decks, but I managed to get some good pictures of the process.

A big crowd watched as the side the ship was on filled with water.

The ship rose until the water on both sides was even. Then the gates opened and it passed through very slowly.

The ships are pulled by little train cars.

There is barely enough room for the ships to pass through, so it has to be done very carefully and slowly. You can see the ropes from the ship to the little trains here.

The entire process of crossing the canal from the Pacific to the Atlantic takes over 8 hours. But, it takes over two weeks to go under South America. It costs about $100,000 for a ship to pass too! (But that’s a lot cheaper than taking the long way.)             

And then it’s done and the water level is let back down for the next ship. 

Ben and I at the Panama Canal

After we caught the show we headed inside to watch a short video on the canal and check out the museum.

From there we headed to old town, but this post is getting a little long – I’ll save that for the next one (I have issues uploading while traveling).  

Okay, I’m going to cross my fingers and press publish before I make this post any longer! I’ll see ya in a bit 🙂